Palin fans attempt to rewrite Paul Revere’s Wikipedia page

Sarah Palin supporters are literally attempting to rewrite history after she flubbed the story of Paul Revere’s ride last week last week, taking to Wikipedia with their own revisions to the beloved story in an effort to make Palin’s version look true.

“He who warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed,” Palin explained to reporters in Boston, Massachusetts Thursday.

But Wikipedia didn’t back up Palin’s suggestion that Revere’s mission was to warn the British or that he rang bells in the process so her fans tried to update the page.

“Most colonial residents at the time considered themselves British as they were all legally British subjects,” was the revision that one user added to the page.

That update was later reverted with the message “content not backed by a reliable sources (it was sarah palin interview videos).”

Another update to the page said, “Accounts differ regarding the method of alerting the colonists; the generally accepted position is that the warnings were verbal in nature, although one disputed account suggested that Revere rang bells during his ride.”

“In the article on Paul Revere, someone has added false information in an effort to support Sarah Palin’s FALSE claims about Paul Revere,” one Wikipedia editor noted. “This must be removed as it is a LIE designed to mislead.”

User Opcnup offered a “humble suggestion” for Palin supporters. “If you want to find a source to work into the article, you should search for sources that agree with what Palin said BEFORE she said it. Sarah Palin doesn’t belong in this article, because it’s an article about Paul Revere not about Sarah Palin, but if you want to bolster her position retroactively you just need to go back to anything released a week ago or more that counts as a [reliable source] and bring that to the forefront.”

“I would strongly suggest locking this page until the Palin controversy blows over and her supporters lose interest in trying to rewrite the page to conform with her erroneous version of Revere’s ride,” Wikipedia editor Black Max wrote.

“You realized you messed up about Paul Revere?” Fox News host Chris Wallace noted in an interview with Palin Sunday.

“You know what, I didn’t mess up about Paul Revere,” Palin replied. “Remember, the British had been there, many soldiers for seven years in that area. Part of Paul Revere’s ride — it wasn’t just one ride — he was a courier, a messenger. Part of the ride was to warn British that we’re already there. You are not going to succeed. You are not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual private militia we have. He did warn the British.”

“In a shout out, gotcha question that was asked of me, I answered candidly. I know my American history,” she insisted.

About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.